Flag-pawpaw

Annona obovata Willdenow, Sp. Pl. 2(2): 1269. 1799; A.grandiflora W. Bartram; Asimina grandiflora (W.Bartram) Dunal; Orchidocarpum grandiflorum (W. Bartram) Michaux; Pityothamnus obovatus (Willdenow) Small; Porcelia grandiflora (W.Bartram) Persoon; Uvaria obovata (Willdenow) Torrey & A. Gray

Shrubs or small trees , 2-3(-4.5) m, much branched. New shoots densely tomentose, hairs bright red, maturing glabrous. Leaves: petiole 2-6 mm, hairs bright red. Leaf blade obovate to oblong, oblanceolate or ovate, 4-10(-12) cm, leathery, base rounded to broadly cuneate, margins scarcely to prominently revolute, apex rounded to obtuse, often notched; surfaces abaxially densely hairy along veins, later sparsely so, hairs bright red, adaxially sparsely red-hairy, maturing glabrous, lustrous. Inflorescences terminal on new growth, sometimes directly from axils of previous season; peduncle usually erect, shootlike, to 0.5 cm, tomentose, hairs bright red; bracts leafy, often with 1-2 bracteoles basally. Flowers yellow-white with lemony fragrance, large; sepals elliptic to ovate, 5-15 mm, adaxially red-hairy; outer petals spreading, elliptic to obovate, 4-6(-8) cm, veins abaxially puberulent, glabrescent, impressed adaxially; inner petals incurved, rarely pink or red, oval to oblong, rarely lanceolate, 1/5-1/2 length of outer petals, thick, base slightly saccate, corrugate zone adaxially purple; pistils 3-8(-11). Berries yellow-green, 5-9cm. Seeds brown to chestnut brown, 1-2 cm. 2 n =18.

Flowering late winter-early summer. White and yellow sand ridges, mostly in oak-pine woods, scrub, coastal dunes, and hammock edges; 0-150 m; Fla.

Taller strains of Asimina obovata , particularly those with pink or red inner petals, have great horticultural potential. W.Bartram figured this species adequately, but subsequent authors tended to confuse it and his somewhat similar Annona incana , with which it is sympatric in northern peninsular Florida.